Kavali MLA Ramireddy Pratap Kumar Reddy opposes house sites allotment in Udayagiri

Nellore: The tussle between the ruling YSRCP and Opposition TDP leaders over the land acquisition process for distribution of house sites to poor in Kavali area found to be a storm in a teacup due to constituency boundaries. At one point, there were huge allegations on the role of ruling party leaders, who mounted pressure on the transfer of the then-District Collector M V Seshagiri Babu.

While TDP leaders are planning to segregate votes from the constituency while ruling party leaders have been trying to safeguard themselves from obstructing the acquisition process in the limits of adjoining constituency, which created a huge mess.

For some time, there has been a chaotic situation in Kavali constituency due to the land acquisition process with the active involvement of leaders of the opposition and other parties. The Andhra Pradesh Township and Infrastructure Development Corporation (APTIDCO) has acquired 97.63 acres of lands in Jammalapalem village, which is 7 km away from Kavali town.

The cost of total land was around Rs 18 lakh some time ago and the officials have spent money on ground levelling too. There is no government land in the area and some private persons are having lands in the purview of Summer Storage tank that costs around Rs 40-50 lakh per acre. Jammalapalem comes under the Jaladanki mandal of Udayagiri constituency.

Though the village located close to Kavali town, it is part of Udayagiri constituency and the ruling party leaders of Kavali objected to shifting of voters from Kavali town to the village as part of distribution of house sites. So, Kavali MLA R Pratap Kumar Reddy started opposing the move allocating lands to Kavali population in Jammalapalem village which is a part of Udayagiri constituency. The MLA then proposed to acquire 110 acres of private lands in Musunuru village, which is 3 km away from Kavali town and part of Kavali rural mandal.

"There were widespread rumours on the transfer of the then Collector on the grounds of refusing land acquisition in Musunuru village and the Kavali MLA was blamed behind the episode. In fact, he proposed the lands in the same village expressing not willing to shift the voters to another constituency," said a ruling party leader. He added that the issue sent wrong a message to public due to opposition leaders' publicity.

An opposition leader said it has been only for including lands of ruling party leaders in the land acquisition process at a higher cost. He asked when lands are available at no-cost why additional burden has to be mounted on the state exchequer.